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NEWTOWN, Conn. — President Barack Obama said Friday that the nation has endured too many mass shootings and it's time to take "meaningful action" following the
shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School
in Newtown.

"As a country we’ve been through this too many times, whether it's an elementary school in Netown, or a shopping mall in Oregon, or a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Aurora or a street corner in Chicago," Obama said in a news conference broadcast Friday afternoon.

"We’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.”

Obama appeared to be wiping away tears after saying he was not reacting to the shooting as a president but as a parent.

"The majority of those who died today were children, beautiful little kids between the ages of five and 10 years old," Obama said. "They had their entire lives ahead, birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. Among the fallen were also teachers, men and women who devoted their lives to helping the children fulfill their dreams."

Obama also spoke of the trauma the survivors may suffer.

“Our hearts are broken today for the parents, grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children and for the families of the adults who were lost," Obama said. "Our hearts broken for the parents of survivors For as blessed as they are to have their children home tonight, they know that their children's innocence has been torn away from them too early, and there are no words ease their pain."